Saving on your American Car hire

Murphy_The_Cat

eslick wrote: »

When we went last year we used a holdall type bag with wheel, £10 from tesco loads of space for high back booster and cloths and because we were scheduled and paid for 4 seats we had lots of space for all of the purchases.

sadly (or happily :j) when we're going over, we're taking a travel cot for MTK2 as some of the places that we're stopping at are unable to provide one - plus, as its a 24 day holiday with various climates, we're going to be comparatively heavy on the clothing/footware.kit front already. Before we load up with purchases for the trip back :beer::j:beer::j

sweetsoul

I took my children to the US a couple of years ago and they were similar ages to yours. I did consider taking car seats but decided against it in the end. When we got there the hire car company were great when I asked for car seat advice and politely requested that it didn't cost me a fortune.

They provided a vehicle which looked like it had normal seats but the seats could be transformed into car seats with a pull down seat. So as they were not providing an additional item I was not charged. I can't remember the make/model but it was some kind of people carrier.

Hope the information helps.

hammy_the_hammer

hopefully just making people aware that when visiting the States with a scheduled airline it's worthwhile checking your luggage allowance eg 2 cases per person ...the amount of people i know who have been about to fly or have flown and struggled to fit everything in one case and not realised they could take two...same with US internal flights

Murphy_The_Cat

sweetsoul wrote: »

I took my children to the US a couple of years ago and they were similar ages to yours. I did consider taking car seats but decided against it in the end. When we got there the hire car company were great when I asked for car seat advice and politely requested that it didn't cost me a fortune.
They provided a vehicle which looked like it had normal seats but the seats could be transformed into car seats with a pull down seat. So as they were not providing an additional item I was not charged. I can't remember the make/model but it was some kind of people carrier.
Hope the information helps.

Hi seetsoul

if you could remember the name of the hire company and the class of car, that would be a great tip.
Usually, people carrier type cars are quite expensive to hire (often priced the same as Premium or Luxury cars) so the specific hire group makes it quite important. Also, for your scheme to work, you require the local agent for the car hire company to be compliant with your request, PLUS, the car would need to be avaialble -- but, if its a yes and a yes, then its another option.

hammy_the_hamster wrote:

hopefully just making people aware that when visiting the States with a scheduled airline it's worthwhile checking your luggage allowance eg 2 cases per person ...the amount of people i know who have been about to fly or have flown and struggled to fit everything in one case and not realised they could take two...same with US internal flights

The first time that I flew to America with American Airlines, the baggage allowance was an enormous 2x32kg bag per person and 18 kg of carry on. So for our first trip, the three of us could have taken over 240 kg of luggaage :eek:
The limits have now come down a bit to 2 x 23kg per person, but even so, for our upcoming trip we could be hauling over 250kg of stuff around with us - without paying a penalty.

nej

We're flying out to the states later in the year and have a 2 year old (he'll be 32 months then, I think). I'd like to take his seat on the plane (and in the hire car) but how does it fit? Obviously planes only have lap belts... do you simply loop the belt around the base of the seat and ignore the "shoulder strap" bits?

And how exact are they on measurements.... I see our seats on our BA 777 are 2 or 3 centimeters narrower than the car seat, but of course there's armrest space to take into account.

Final question, does this mess around with the stupid 1-carry-bag allowance at Gatwick?

Murphy_The_Cat

nej wrote: »

We're flying out to the states later in the year and have a 2 year old (he'll be 32 months then, I think). I'd like to take his seat on the plane (and in the hire car) but how does it fit? Obviously planes only have lap belts... do you simply loop the belt around the base of the seat and ignore the "shoulder strap" bits?

And how exact are they on measurements.... I see our seats on our BA 777 are 2 or 3 centimeters narrower than the car seat, but of course there's armrest space to take into account.

Final question, does this mess around with the stupid 1-carry-bag allowance at Gatwick?

With ours, it fits by running the belt between the car seat portion and the car seat base portion with the lap belt - this is enough to secure it in place.

As for how exact they are on measurments, I wouldn't know, but you can or course lift the armrestes (which IIRC, we did).

& no, it does not mess with the carry on baggage allowance, but you will need to XRay scan it at every airport you transit.

:beer:

nej

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

With ours, it fits by running the belt between the car seat portion and the car seat base portion with the lap belt - this is enough to secure it in place.

As for how exact they are on measurments, I wouldn't know, but you can or course lift the armrestes (which IIRC, we did).

& no, it does not mess with the carry on baggage allowance, but you will need to XRay scan it at every airport you transit.

:beer:

Cheers, Murph... I've had a look around on the internet (how did we plan holidays before this thing?!), and apparantly the width of the AA 767 seat is 17.2" and on the BA 777 it's 17.5" (SeatGuru). Your Britax Duo is 48cm wide (According to Mothercare), which is 19.9". If the measurements are correct (and assuming you flew economy), and you had no problems on the plane then I think I'll be alright as my car seat is 45cm wide meaning 17.7". It seems to be about 10cm longer though.

Obsess over the tiniest details? Me? Never!

Now I just need your help in pursuading NASA to postpone a shuttle lanuch by 2 or 3 days so I can see it...

Murphy_The_Cat

nej wrote: »

Cheers, Murph... I've had a look around on the internet (how did we plan holidays before this thing?!), and apparantly the width of the AA 767 seat is 17.2" and on the BA 777 it's 17.5" (SeatGuru). Your Britax Duo is 48cm wide (According to Mothercare), which is 19.9". If the measurements are correct (and assuming you flew economy), and you had no problems on the plane then I think I'll be alright as my car seat is 45cm wide meaning 17.7". It seems to be about 10cm longer though.

Obsess over the tiniest details? Me? Never!

Now I just need your help in pursuading NASA to postpone a shuttle lanuch by 2 or 3 days so I can see it...

I did indeed fly economy in one of AAs trusty old 767s, rather than a spanking new 777. (The AA 777's are a bit more generous again)

I think that the seat is measured across the narrowest point, which I think is the gap between the armrests, whilst the widest point on a child car seat will be same point

or maybe it will be the shoulder area.
In either case, if you lift the armrests, it will make all the difference.

As for delaying a shuttle takeoff for a day or two, I can't help you, but maybe someone else on MSE can :beer:

Murphy_The_Cat

Here's another couple of things that could potentially save you a LOT on your car hire charge.

If you are travelling out of State, or doing a One Way hire, do your research and find someone that won't spank your wallet for the privilege of doing so.
Later on this year, I'm doing a Road Trip of Nevada, Arizona & California and some of the hire companies wanted to sting me for several hundred $$$'s for taking the car out of State on a One Way Hire -- But Dollar, via USrentacar (& other brokers as well, but check) don't charge anything at all for one way hires in California, Nevada & arizona (or any combination of the three)
From my booking "Special Offer -
Free one way rentals between California and Nevada. (Vice Versa) Free one way rentals between California and Arizona. (Vice Versa)"
Compared to what the charge could have been
"One Way Hire Distance Cost **
0 - 200 miles $50.00
201 - 500 miles $100.00
501 - 1000 miles $300.00
Over 1000 miles $500.00"
** I think that this is worked out 'as the crow flies' between collection/drop off points, not the actual road miles.

The second tip is a real winner. The gain is only really worthwhile if your hiring a larger car, for an extended period. If your hiring a smaller car, for a short period, the Gold option MAY work out better, if you use the entire tank of 'free' fuel'.
Previously when I've hired a car I've automatically selected the Gold insurance option, so that Mrs Cat can drive the car as well, plus, we get (potentially) upto a free tank of fuel. But if you hire from Dollar, you automatically get insured for 2 drivers anyway, so the Gold option is only going to be worth it if you are going to use more than the additional 'Gold' charge - in my case, the Gold charge is £60, so I'm much better off paying for the fuel that I use. Of course, if you have more than 2 drivers, or aren't using Dollar (or Budget) then the Gold option is worth considering again.

stoneman

Murphy,
The nearest Walmart to the Car hire facility in Las Vegas (all car companies go to the same place now) is just off of the 215 south about 3 miles away, go to the one on North Nelis Blvd. there is a smaller one before that but it isn't a supercentre, which you will need to get a booster. Cost should be no more than $10 there, there are usually some but not many cabs at the CHF, are you planning to ask the cab to wait, or let him go and get another for the return?
Good plan but only really worth the effort if going for a long stretch, if I was only saving $50 I would hire the seat